Monday, September 8, 2012

Monday, September 8, 2012


We had some nice long walks today.  We started out by going to the local bar and having a couple cups on nice dark coffee.  It is going to be hard coming back home to our normal dark brown water called coffee!!  We did get a small coffee pot for making their coffee when we get back.  

We next went to see where we could rent a car, about a 30 minute walk from the apartment.  We will rent it for tomorrow and drive to a couple adjacent towns.  That followed by checking out a laundromat where we will drop off our laundry tomorrow morning and they will wash it, dry it, and fold it all for minimal cost.  To me it seems just like home!!

The escalators up to the fortress which is just partially visible in the upper left of the picture.

We then started walking to see the local fortress, The Rocca Albornaziana of Spoleto. You gain access to the fortress via around 7 sets of escalators.  Construction on the fortress was started around 1360 and completed around 1370 with numerous revisions since then.  Around 1817 the fortress was converted to a prison upon the unification of Italy.  In 1982 the prison was moved to a new facility and it was only in 2007 that they opened it to the public.

The lighting in the main corridor into the fortress consists of a string of LED lamps at the edge of the floor that   reflect on the wall providing a pleasant illumination.

A viaduct crossing the valley to an adjacent hill served to supply water in the early days.

One of two large courtyards that made up the upper level of the fortress.

These are for you Doug.  They utilize a 380 Volt distribution which would be comparable to our 480 Volt. I see a  pad where they must have had standby generation when it was a prison.

This view is to the left of the other two showing the center of Spoleto. Notice the beauty of the rolling hills in the background.

One of the entrances to the fortress

This view of Spoleto from the fortress shows the old canal that use to flow through town and immediately to the left of that is part of the original wall that surrounded the city.  Our apartment is to the left of the tall church steeple in the lower left corner of the photo. Notice the different colors of the tile roofs.  Grey is the older buildings while the red is newer.

Notice the wiring.  They use a heavy duty cable, similar to what we could call ZIP cable. It may have a metal outer covering, can't be sure.  This type of surface mounted wiring is quite common in the older buildings here.

 We are on the road tomorrow so, Good Night,

73,

The Traveling Huntley's
Shirley and Roger